Lens-polishing machine



L. w. BUGBEE. LENS POLISHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. I919.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- j I N V E N TOR.

LUG/A'N M/ 51/6555.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES LUCIAN .W. BUG-BEE, OF INDIANAPOLIS, IN DIANA, ASSIGNOR T0, QNEIFIEOE BIFOOAL PATENT OFFICE.

LENS COMPANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS. INDIANA, A CORPORATION.

nnns-ronls -rine MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. March a, 1919. Serial No. 281.035.

thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichlike numerals refer to like parts. i

The object of this invention is to improve, facilitate andcheapen the polishing of toric, meniscus and other lenses, so as to improve the polished surfaces of such lenses and reducethe cost of pollshing the same.

One feature of the invention consists in the combination of a spotting wheel with the spots cut in the metal surface thereof, whereby the lens blanks can be secured thereto with the edges mounted directly on and in engagement 1 with the, metal sun face of the wheehthe blanks being secured thereto by pitch or other adhesive material between the middle portions of the blanks,

and means for applyingto theouter sur face of the blanks, when so mountedon said spotting wheel, a plurality of polishers made of, or covered with pitch. This con- 7 on. an enlarged scale.

strnction will polish the blanks rapidly and without the heat, generated by the fric tion of the olishers on the lens blanks,

the successful operation.

llleansfor applying a constant stream of rouge and water to the pitch polishers is softening the pitch so as to interfere with also preferably provided, for insuring that llllGPlilCll of the polishersshall remain suf-j ficiently hard to polish successfully.

Another important feature of the inven tion consists in the means substantially:

herein shown for causing a differential lateralor variable movement or feed ,of the. plurality of polishers across the lens blanks transversely ofthe wheel, during the polishing operation. To that end arocking frame is provided, with arms pivoted to the upper end andarms pivoted to theflower end, and these arms --pivotal1y mounted with the polishing holders, and yielding means for drawing said arms and polishing holders toward the spotting wheel.

Another feature. of the invention consists in a c amconstructlon substantially as hereis'aplan view of a cam disk.

a diagram of the cam surface of the cam. Fig. 5 is a plan. view of the spottingwheel with the lenses mounted thereon. Fig. 6

in set" forth for operating said rocking frame, and still another and very important feature of the invention consists in dif* fercnt means for rotating the spotting wheel and for operating said cam and rocking frame for causing the dilferelitial movement ofthe polishers. In this invention this is accomplished by securing the cam to the side of a pulley loosely mounted on the shaft which drives the spottingwheel. Another feature .of this invention consists 1n driving the said cam at a slower ordifferent speed than thespeed of the shaft which drives the spotting wheel.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims Fi 2 is a front elevatlon of the machine.

Fig. 4: is

a section therethrough. Fig. 7 is a section of a portion of the wheel on theline 7 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a transverse section ofa portion of the wheelon an enlarged scale. Fig. 9 is a portion of Fig.

Fig. 10 is a central section through a pitch polisher.

There is shown in the drawings herein a machine having a main frame 10, which can.

ries a driving shaft 11 having a driving Patented Jan. 18, 1921 pulley 12, which is driven by some suitable source of power, and a pair of pulleys 13 and 14: for transmittino; power through the belts 16 and 17 to the mechanism above; The pulley 14 is smaller than the pulley 13,

. Upon th main frame there is anothe frame'having a base 115 with twoupright,

portions 1.16 and 11.7,"which carry horiaontal bearings 18 and 19 ontheir upper ends and in which the shaft 20, which drives the.

spotting wheel, is mounted. The shaftQOis driven by the belt 1.5 through fadriving pulley -21secured onthe shaft. Thereisfa1so a driving pulley 27 loosely mounted on the shaft, which is drivenby the, belt 16at a slower. speed than the pulley 21, This (11f ference in speedmay be effected by reducing leys 13 and 21.

ated, as shown in Figs. 1., 3and 4;.

from the highest to the lowest elevation.

The lowest depression is diametrically opposite the highest elevation and the other depressions are opposite corresponding elevations. In other words the construction of the cam is such that as said surfaces are engaged by the diametrically opposite pair of rollers 35 of the rocking frame 36, the rota- 'tion o f-the cam will cause the rocking of said frame to and fro. There are shown in the drawings, see Figs. 1, 3 and 4:, three elevationsand three depressions, A, E, and C andthree depressions F, D, and B graduated, and they cause the rocking movement indicated by .dotted lines in 'Fig. 4. The rollers 35 simultaneously engage the highest elevation A and the lowest depression D, and then the highest depression F and the intermediate elevation C, and then the lowest elevation C and the highest elevation B, and this order is repeated as the cam rotates.

gtend outwardly from the bearing 19.

The rocking frame 36 is rectangular in shape as shown in Fig. 2 and is fulcrumed at its opposite sides on pins 37 which e1) 0 the upper and lower ends of the frame 36 bars 40 are pivoted, which bars extend forward and at their outer ends carry a widened head 41 with vertical guide plates thereon, which have a laterally projecting screw 42. A vertical pin 44: is secured in. the outerend of each of said arms which loosely engages a recess or socket in the polisher 45. The polisher has two laterally disposed pins '47 pivotally connected with each end of the polisher holder 147, which havevertical slots between which the screws 42, looselyextendj The-'polisher 45 shown in Fig. 10 has a polishing surface 46 made of pitch. m

The spotting wheel 50 is secured on the V shaft 20 so as to be rotated thereby. Upon the surface of said wheel lens blanks 51 are secured. .The wheel has a convex peripheral surface was to hold lenses adapted to have plus outer'surfaces.

The upper and lower bars 40 are drawn toward each other by springs 52, one on each side ofthemachine, for the purpose of constantly and yieldinglyforcing the polishers: down upon the lens blanks upon'the wheel 50 while the latter is' rotated and whereby the polishing results, the speed thereof depending. upon the strengthof the springs 50.

In order to explain more fully the complete nature of this invention and its utility, an explanation will be made of one form of the spotting wheel and the manner of mounting the lens blanks thereon. This is illustrated in Figs. 5 to 9, and has been par ticularly designed for use in grinding and polishing toric lenses. A fter the lens blanks are mounted on the wheel, the same wheel and blanks are put first in a. grinding machine and thereafter in the polishing machine so that the lenses are ground and polished without removing them from the blank holder.

The wheel 50 i a metal wheel. of such diameter as to give the periphery thereof a curvature of substantially six di opters. Then there is cut in the metal surface of the wheel a succession of substantially rectangular spots or seats 60 for the lens blanks 51. All of thesespots are exactly alike and equidistant from the center of the wheel and truly balanced and have a uniform standard of curvature. The concave sides of the blanks are finished and polished. and then secured upon the wheel, on said spots or seats, so that the borders of the glass will rest slightly upon the iron of the wheel and thus be mounted thereon with absolute accuracy. A thin layer of adhesive material 61 is placed in the concave surface of the lens, whereby it adheres into the place on which it has been mounted on the wheel. substantially as shown. The blanks are thus secured properly in place equidistant from the center and truly balanced on the wheel and with their margins abutting each other so as to present a olid and substantially continuous surface on the wheel after they are mounted. The wheel is then placed in the grinding machine and the outer surfaces of said blanks are ground. Then the wheel is removed from the grinding wheel and placed in the polishing machine. as shown in Fig. 1. 7

it is observed that as the machine operatesfthe wheel 50, carrying the lens. will rotate and the polishing button or tools 45 and 16 will engage their outer surfaces and polish them. Since the lenses are mounted directly on the metal of the wheel, pitch can be used on the polishing buttons and a plurality of the polishers may be employed without creating suiiicient friction to soften the pitch which secures the lenses to the wheel 50, or the pitch on the polishing buttons or tools. However. in operation. a stream of water and rouge is supplied to keep these parts as cool as possible.

As the machine operates, the .rockiug frame 36 and the bars 4.0, as they are actuated by the cam 30, will constantly move the polishers crosswise of the polishing wheel 50, to limited extents. Since there are two pohshers shown here on opposite sides of the wheel 50, when theparts are in the po sition shown in Fig. 1, the upper polisher given a one-third turn, the upper wheel 35 will run into a depression, while the lower wheel will run on an elevation, but these depressions and elevationsincrease and diminish in height in succession so that about one-third of the time, the polishers may be said to be diagonally disposed, in Fig. 1, for about one-third of the time, they are more centrally disposed, and for about another third of the time, they sitely arranged, as compared with their diagonal position in Fig. 1, that is, the upper polisher will be nearer the left hand edge of the wheel 50. i

In order to be sure that the pitch d6 on the polisher 45 remains hard and to reduce the head of all the parts caused by friction during the polishing, a constant stream of rouge and water is discharged on the periphery of the wheel through the tube 60 leading from a receptacle 61 secured to the right hand side of the bar 19. a

The invention is notlimited to the number of polishers or the manner in which they are formed, as three or four instead of two could be used, but this invention enables a plurality of polishing elements to be employed so that the polishing of these lenses is greatly facilitated as compared with methods heretofore employed and since pitch polishers can be used, a much finer sur= face is obtained in the finished lenses than when only one polisher formed of other ma terlal would be used. Nor is the mvent on limited to the number of cam elevations or depressions, as that may be modified to suit the desire of the builder of the machine.

The invention claimed is: y

1. A machine for polishing lenses, including a frame, a shaft mounted in said frame,

a spotting wheel thereon for holding a series of lens blanks on the periphery thereof, a

plurality of oppositely located polishers, means for holding said polishers in position to polish the lens blanks 011 said wheel, and means for oppositely and simultaneously reciprocating said polisher holding means transversely of the spotting wheel.

2. A machine for polishing lenses, including a frame, a shaft having bearing in said frame, a spotting Wheel mounted in said shaft, a rocking frame fulcrumed on said shaft bearing frame with the axis at a right anglewith the axis of the shaft, means pivted to the ends of said frame for carrying and holding polishers on the lens blanks secured on said spotting wheel, polishers 011 said polisher holders, and means for rocking are opposaid frame as the spotting" Wheel rotates so as to cause the reciprocationofthe polishers transversely of the spotting wheel.

3. A machine for polishing lenses, including ashaft, means for driving the same, at spotting wheel secured onthe shaft, a frame adapted to rock longitudinally of said shaft,

polisher holders pivotally connected to said frame and adapted to apply polishers to the lenses, a cam for-rocking said frame, and

means for driving said camata different speed than the h le, i

4. A macine for polishing lenses, including a shaft, meansfor-driving the same, a spotting wheel secured on the shaft, a frame adapted to rock longitiulinallyof said shaft, polisher holders pivotally connected to said frame andadaptedtoapply polishers to the lenses, a pulley loosely mounted 'on said shaft a canrsecured to saidpulley for rock.- ing said frame, and means for driving the pulley at a different speed than the shaft.

5. A machine for polishing lenses including a rotary shaft, a pulley secured thereon for driving the same, at spotting Wheel mounted on the, shaft, polisher holders adapted to apply polishers to lenses when secured on said Wheel, a frame adapted to rock longitudinally on the shaft for giving the polisher holders reciprocatory movement transversely on the wheel, a pair of rollers on said rocking frame at opposite sides of the shaft, a pulley loosely mounted on said shaft, and an annular cam on said loose pulley projecting therefrom and surrounding said shaft and engaging said rollers on the rocking frame for rocking the same.

6. A. machine for polishing lenses includ ing a rotary shaft, a pulley secured thereon for driving the same, a spotting wheel mounted on the shaft, polisher holders adapted to apply polishers to lenses when secured on said wheel, a frame adapted to rock longitudinally on the shaft for giving the polisher holders reciprocatory movement transversely on the wheel, a pair of rollers on said rocking frame at opposite sides of the shaft, a pulley loosely mounted on said shaft, an annular cam on said loose pulley.pro ect1ng therefrom and surrounding said shaft and engaging said rollers on the rocking frame for rocking the same, and

means for driving said cam pulley at a different speed from the shaft pulley.

'7. A machine for polishing lenses including a rotary shaft, a spotting wheel carried. thereon, polisher holders for holdingpolishers against lenses secured on said spotting wheel, a frame adapted to rock longitudinally of said shaft for giving said polisher holders differential movement transversely of the wheel, and a rotary annular cam surrounding said shaft and engaged by said frame at diametrically opposite points there of, said cam having a series of gradual elevations and depressions for rocking said rocking frame.

8. A machine for polishing lenses including a rotary shaft, a spotting wheel carried thereon, polisher holders for holding polishers against lenses secured on said spotting wheel, a frame adapted to rock longitudinally of said shaft for giving said polisher holders difierential movement transversely ofthe wheel, and a' rotary annular cam surrounding said shaft, said cam having gradual-elevations and depressions with an elevation diametrically opposite each depression for rocking said rocking frame.

9. A machine for polishing lenses including a frame, a rotary shaft, a spotting wheel mountedon the shaft for carrying the lenses to-be polished, a pluralityof polishers, polisher holders for holding the polishers against the lenses on the periphery of the spotting wheel, a rocking frame including a plurality of bars fulcrumed on opposite sides of the shaft and formed into a frame, arms pivoted to each end of said rocking frame and to the polisher holders, springs tending to draw said arms toward each other, rollers carried on the rear side of said rocking frame and on opposite sides of the shaft, and a rotary cam concentric with said shaft and having a cam surface which is engaged with said pulleys at diametrically opposite points, the cam surface having a series of elevations and depressions which gradually increase on one side and correspondingly diminish on the other side of the center thereof, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto allixed my signature.

Q LUCIAN W. BUGBEE. 

